A 60- to 70-foot whale found dead in the Port of Tacoma Monday was towed by boat to McNeil Island Tuesday, where it will be analyzed and eventually left to rot, The News Tribune confirmed.
Questions as to how the whale died, what type of whale it was and how old it was were still undetermined Tuesday, as the necropsy will be performed at McNeil Island on Wednesday, said Jennifer Sepulveda, communications manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Officials said it could be a fin whale, but they won’t know for sure until at least Wednesday, when the necropsy begins.
Officials became aware of the dead whale when it arrived on the bow of an Evergreen vessel Monday morning, Melanie Stambaugh Babst, the director of communications for The Northwest Seaport Alliance, previously told The News Tribune. As of Tuesday officials could not confirm whether the whale died from a boat strike.
It cost NWSA $8,000 to tow the whale from the Port to McNeil Island, Stambaugh Babst confirmed Tuesday.
As of around 1 p.m. Tuesday a boat was dragging the whale north of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge by its tail, said Charlie Quigg, vice president and co-owner of Quigg Bros. Inc. Construction, which was hired to tow the carcass. The journey was expected to take ten hours because the skipper had to go slowly, so the whale didn’t “break up on tow or anything,” Quigg said.
“It was fairly intact. Of course, it was in a state of decomposition,” he said. “The odor was horrendous.”
Quigg said this wasn’t the first time the business had been called to tow a whale, but it was the first time in recent memory.
“Our marine superintendent is a very seasoned fella, and it’s the worst smell he’s ever smelled,” Quigg said.
A dead whale is seen in the Port of Tacoma on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash.
Sepulveda said it was necessary to remove the whale from an active area of the Port. Once the carcass reaches the island, marine experts will examine the body to determine how it died. The body will be left to decompose, providing valuable nutrients to the surrounding ecosystem, she said.
“It’s an animal you don’t see every day, especially on land,” Sepulveda said. “It’s unfortunate that this animal passed, but our experts will definitely use this opportunity to learn what they can about this individual’s circumstances, as well as see if there’s any data this animal can provide about our ecosystem as a whole.”
McNeil Island is one of the sites the Washington Department of Natural Resources has determined is suitable for whale carcasses to naturally decompose without great impact to nearby residents, said Michael Milstein, a media specialist with the West Coast regional office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A few whale carcasses have been moved there over the years, he said.
“The preference with whale carcasses is to move them to a nearby, safe site (with limited tidal and weather influence) where the team can conduct a necropsy to better understand what happened to the whale,” Milstein said Tuesday. “It is also a matter of circumstance because moving a whale carcass can be complicated and expensive, so the preference is usually to move it to the closest suitable location.”
McNeil Island is a 6-mile island near the town of Steilacoom with restricted access, as it’s home to the Special Commitment Center, a state facility for civilly convicted sex offenders who have completed their sentences but are deemed too dangerous to release.
A dead whale is seen in the Port of Tacoma on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash.
This spring was a particularly deadly one for whales.
As of July 6, 30 gray whales were found dead in Washington this year, according to WDFW. That is the second-highest number of gray whale strandings in a single year in Washington history, second to 34 strandings in 2019.
Marine mammal experts are concerned the deaths are related to the warming climate, which decreases food availability for whales, Sepulveda said. Malnourished whales are also at greater risk for being struck by vessels or becoming entangled, as reported by scientists, including those with the Olympia-based nonprofit Cascadia Research Collective.
What to do if you see a stranded whale
If you see dead, injured or stranded marine life, call the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 1-866-767-6114. Include descriptions of the animal, the location, date and time and other information, as listed on the network’s website.
Experts will mobilize to respond to the situation once you make a call, Sepulveda said.